Focus: Singing Faith

Text: Isa.54:1

"SING, O BARREN, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud…"

Real songs flow from faith. Faith sings because God said so. Faith sings in any weather, foul or fair. Faith sings in prison. Ask Paul and Silas. At midnight, while in prison, they sang to the Lord.

Here in our text, God is asking Israel, taken captive by Babylon, to sing. Their captivity is a form of barrenness. You might be in the land of captivity right now, but inside you are the songs of Zion. God has put a song in your mouth; sing it.

Don't let your present circumstance take your song away. Sing, and keep singing until your miracle happens. Sing away your barrenness and sing in your fruitfulness. Faith sings anyway, anyhow.

Let me point something out to you. Our text is from Isaiah 54, but before it is Isaiah 53. You get that? That is the Calvary chapter, or the chapter of the Lamb of God sacrificed for us. The cross of Christ is enough reason to sing. Calvary has given us the song of salvation. Calvary has ended our years of captivity and broken our yoke of bondage. Calvary is the cure for our barrenness. Calvary has restored our hopes and revived our souls. Calvary has given us the reason to sing.

The Lord God said to Mary, "And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, WHO WAS CALLED BARREN" (Lk.1:36). The same Elisabeth people had labeled as barren is now housing a baby in her womb. Isn't that amazing? God makes fruitful the barren. God gives songs to the sighing. God knows how to turn pain into paean of praise.

Your condition is not final. Your barrenness is not forever. God will wipe away your tears of sorrow and give you tears of joy.

Faith sings anywhere and anyhow. Faith believes God for a miracle, hopes for a change of story, and sings amid the sighs.

I declare that you are about to see fruitfulness replace barrenness in your life. Isaiah 53 will give birth to Isaiah 54. Let your faith sing!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter